Catching A Light
by Yurusane
Summary: Naruto Romance Fic, NaruSaku, SakuNaru. 'Words can have greater impacts than anything...'


Fanfiction: Naruto.  
Disclaimer: I do not own.  
Author's Note: Too lazy.  
Pre-read by: TokehGecko (Who's lazier than me, so I still expect a lot of errors in here, hehe...)  
Summary: Again, I'm lazy.  
Writing Style: Mostly Romance, perhaps humour, or an attempt.

---

'It was when the thoughts turned around and started making no sense at all. When thoughts turned into speech and I found myself speaking to myself. Learning a lesson I've already learned, but still learning from it and using it to rationalize with my own speech. But when did it come to all of this?'

It was when he broke apart. When he decided to call it a day, even though it's already been ages.

'When I look ahead of myself, I see myself looking back at me...'

When realization dawns, is what they all believe. Truly, though, it's when clarification has made its presence known in rationalization.

'Why did he say those words?'

"Oy, Sakura, you're spacing again." Came the voice of Konohamaru, now Jounin.

They were on a mission to infiltrate some building, in their own Country, the Fire Country. Sakura didn't really care, because she was the Medic-nin, all she has to care about is the welfare of her comrades during a mission.

"Feeling homesick already?" Konohamaru taunted.

Sakura frowned at the younger man and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm hearing that from a kid. Just shut up and follow your Captain, small fry."

"Hey!"

"Konohamaru!" Sakura gave Konohamaru a sly grin as Shikamaru yelled from the front. "Eyes to the front and mouth shut."

A grumble followed, while Sakura returned to her thoughts.

****

Catching a Light  
_- Oneshot_

"Oy..."

Sakura looked up as she was seated against a tree, away from the gathering of Shikamaru's team.

"You feeling okay, Sakura? You've been really quiet." Shikamaru asked as he sat down in front of her and started rummaging in one of his pockets, until he found a cigarette.

"I see Asuma's rubbing off on you." Sakura stated with a small smile. "But I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Shikamaru sighed as he lit the cigarette. "You know, I'm a genius in reading faces too... It has to do with your old team, huh? They're moving up the ranks faster than everyone, even though both of them have been away from Konoha so long and often."

Sakura's small smile remained on her face, although it did seem it had turned even smaller. "As to be expected of you, Shikamaru... But yeah, I just don't get them. They're both really so... far away."

Shikamaru smiled for a second and a half. "Sasuke's easy to read, actually... The problem for me is Naruto... That guy's become a genius in hiding true emotions. Actually, I've never been completely sure about him... I'd probably lose at a poker game against him, too."

Sakura's smile grew a tiny bit. "They're both hard to read for me."

"Everyone's hard to read, unless you really try to read them." Shikamaru advised as he rose to his feet. "Our mission will be finished tomorrow. Only Hakase could get injured, but thanks to my plan, really only slightly, so don't worry."

"Hakase-san will?" Sakura repeated, confused.

Shikamaru nodded his head. "Yeah, he'll have to go solo for a few minutes because of his skill to walk through walls, heh..." Shikamaru shrugged. "Because, well, we can't."

---

The mission was easy, as usual. Hakase didn't even have any injuries after, so Sakura had come along for nothing... Again and as always, when Shikamaru was the leader of the mission.

But it was the same when Sasuke or Naruto were the leaders of a mission she had to accompany. But Sasuke and Naruto were just too strong and fast to let their comrades get any scratch or... to let them even get a tiny bit tired.

Knocking on the door, Sakura wondered who was home today. It was a normal Monday, and usually Naruto and Sasuke were busy, but maybe Neji or Kakashi were home.

No answer for ten whole seconds and Sakura was just about to turn when Ino opened the door...

Wait a minute...

Ino!

"Ah, Ino? What are you doing here?" Sakura curiously asked as she eyed the blonde suspiciously.

Ino simply smiled and stepped out of the house the four Shinobis lived. "I stayed the night."

"Stayed the night!" Sakura admonished as her eyes widened.

It was a well-known fact throughout all of Konoha that Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi all lived in the same house for safety measures. But, they were a team of four as well, Konoha's finest team, even. Konoha's Yonnin. The Legendary Four...

"Yup! They've all gotten back from a mission yesterday morning. Neji picked up a few flowers at my parents' shop for Ten-Ten, and he told me he and his team were having a celebration diner of some kind last night. He invited me!"

"Ahuh..." Sakura frowned. "And then you stayed the night?"

Ino blushed momentarily. "It's got nothing to do with you, Sakura. I just happened to get along with one of them."

"With who!"

"Ah, it wasn't Sasuke, don't worry, Sakura." Ino said with her eyes closed, waving her hands and twisting her wrists in front of Sakura's face.

Neji is involved with Ten-Ten, it isn't Sasuke, Kakashi is pretty old and there's Naruto... "So it's either Kakashi-sensei or Naruto?" Sakura concluded. For some reason it angered her. She was too confused to know if it angered her a lot.

"Anyway, they're all having a debriefing at the Hokage's Tower. I was having such a good time, too! Until that bastard Kotetsu showed up!" Ino whined as she walked past Sakura.

"Having a good time? In the morning?" Sakura asked, a bit loudly. No, she asked loudly. A few villagers walking through the streets turned their heads, only to receive an evil Haruno glare.

"Why are you so mad, Sakura? Did you fail your mission or something?" Ino asked. "Don't vent your anger out on me, not that it would make me sad, because I'm so happy." She really stretched the 'happy', Sakura noted.

"Whatever. I have to report to Tsunade-shishou as well. I'll see you around, Ino." Sakura finished as she turned away and headed for the Hokage's Tower.

"Ah, say hello to Naruto-kun for me, will you!" Ino yelled at her back.

"WHAT?"

In the Deserts far from Konoha, where Gaara ruled his Country, he turned his head, thinking he heard someone scream...

---

When his former pink-haired teammate suddenly entered the office with only one knock and no waiting, he noticed she was a bit distraught. Ok, understatement, when he noticed the glare she was giving all of them.

What did they do wrong now? She was so completely out of it lately. Her rage was actually becoming really annoying, although he would have said that years ago.

He really didn't understand how Naruto put up with her rage all the time. Then again, he also didn't understand how he dealt with her affection all these years. It was good that it stopped a few years ago. He really thanked all the lords of the heavens for that.

Ah, the glare was directed at Naruto for about 87, he noticed even without his Sharingan.

Poor Naruto.

But who was he to pity Naruto?

---

"Sakura, you're interrupting a meeting here. You're supposed to come here in two hours." Tsunade let out as she sent Sakura quite the serious look. A look that told her to 'leave or I won't teach you anything new today.'

Sakura snarled, albeit softly, and turned on her heels.

"She looked... a bit angry, it seems." Neji whispered as soon as she had left the office.

"No kidding..." Naruto responded, while Kakashi and Sasuke just smiled.

Even Tsunade gave a short smile, before she continued the meeting.

Hyuga Neji had been freed of the Cursed Seal on his forehead and had no blind spot in his vision. He has become truly Legendary and surpassed each and every Hyuga that ever lived. Combining his Clan Techniques with Styles from outside of Konoha, secretly, thus, without his Clan knowing it, he's still growing stronger.

His appearance changed as well. Each member of this four man team wore a cloak of some kind, and all dark-coloured. Only Kakashi occasionally wore a Jounin Uniform, but usually, also a cloak.

Neji wore a dark blue cloak and his mask was a Hawk's. He, like the others, had the same protection on his hands, shoulder, elbows, knees and ankles as all the ANBU had. But the cloak, kinda similar to what the Akatsuki Members had, hid all of that.

Neji wore his hair loose; it didn't matter if it would fall in front of his eyes during a fight, because he had the Byakugan anyway. He had a small scar above his left eyebrow, thanks to a lightning shaped Kunai during a mission a few months ago. Neji thought it looked pretty... nifty, and didn't allow any Medic-nin to heal it.

Uzumaki Naruto wore a dark orange cloak, though some people say it looked more red than orange and vice versa, of course. But orange had always been his colour so he figured 'What the Heck.'

His hair had grown a bit longer on the sides, but it was all still very spiky. His bangs reached the sides of his chin, but his entire face was still visible. His eyes had become a bit more narrowed and it seemed he still didn't have to shave, even though he was twenty now. Naruto had the mask of a human, surprisingly. But that made it seem even more scary.

Uchiha Sasuke wore a black cloak, his hair was exactly the way it always has been, but he wore his headband from his shoulder to his elbow on his left arm, under the cloak. The Hitai-ates of the members of this team were all not visible, thanks to either the cloaks or the masks. Sasuke had the mask of a Hedgehog.

Kakashi was still the same as ever, and the tallest of the team. Neji was second tallest, being only slightly taller than Sasuke and Naruto, who seemed to be around the same height. Kakashi had a dark grey cloak and had the mask of a Cat, as he wanted to change from his former mask.

All in all, they looked mighty powerful as a whole. To be honest, the Hokage looked pretty weak and fragile in front of these four. And even she had to admit that she didn't want any of these guys as her opponent.

"And that's it. You guys have done well enough. Tcheh, to think you've become as well known as the Sannin." Tsunade finished the small speech. "I've got another mission for you in two days. Kakashi needs a day to rest, after all." She winked.

Kakashi seemed to snort underneath his mask, but he rarely did snort, so... "Ja ne."

"Later, old woman!" Naruto said as the four left the office.

Closing the door, they all sighed. Until...

"Oh, hey, Sakura."

---

Kakashi found himself ignored as Sakura stomped past him and grabbed Naruto's arm. "You and I need to talk!" Was all she said as she dragged him away from the group. Naruto threw all of them a begging look of despair and need.

The three remaining all stared at Naruto with sympathy. "So, want to bet this is about Ino?" Was said as soon as they were out of sight.

"That's hardly a fair bet." Neji replied to Kakashi. "Better yet, want to bet whether she wants to protect her friend, the Yamanaka, or..."

Sasuke glanced at Neji. "Or she wants the dobe for herself? You as well as I can read people's faces better than anyone." He received a gaze from Kakashi. "Oh, and Kakashi too."

"I feel sorry for Naruto." Kakashi finished as they all put their hands in their pockets and headed home.

---

You don't know what you have until it's gone. It's been so often said that nobody cares about that line anymore. These days, it's easy to gain back what you've lost, anyway. Usually...

"Ok, spill, damn it!" Sakura yelled as softly as she could as they were alone, very close to the Forest of Death; in front of one of the gate entrances, actually.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto took a look at the hand that was still holding his wrist. "You can let me go now and next time you do that, don't grab it so tightly..." He whined as he rubbed his right wrist. "That huuuurtsss..."

Sakura glared.

"Aah, what have I done to upset you now, Sakura-chan?" He whined again. "Oh!" His mouth was an 'O' "Did Ino complain or something?" He scratched the back of his head. "I do think she enjoyed it all, I mean... she was smiling and laughing all the time... I don't think she faked that." He thought out loud.

Naruto had his eyes closed and opened one of them slightly to see that Sakura was still glaring. Perhaps a bit more intensely now.

"I thought you said you didn't have time for things like this!" Sakura shouted, again.

"Things like what?" Naruto asked. "Oh, you mean that?" His gaze softened from curiosity to understanding. "I said I don't have time to chase after a dream. Dreams are there to be chased after. You can't kill dreams, you can only look at them less often or give up on them. Unfortunately, they'll always remain."

That just sounded too wise, coming out the blonde's mouth, so Sakura chose to be a bit shocked.

"I have a few dreams." He said as he looked skyward. "To become Hokage." He clenched his right fist and aimed it at the sky. "You can run faster after a dream, too. But sometimes, I guess you'll have to give up on one dream, so you can reach the other..." He turned a bit sad. "But who says a dream can ever be reached?"

"Naruto..."

"I gave up on you, Sakura-chan, because you are one of my dreams. I can't say you WERE one of my dreams, because... Sadly, it'll always remain that way. I just... stopped running towards this dream." Naruto sighed with a smile. "But, now that I've got some more time to run towards just one dream, it seems life is full of dreams, ne? Heh, I want to run to every direction, Sakura-chan. But I still haven't reached even one of them."

Sakura frowned. "You gave up on me... But now, you're with... With Ino?"

Naruto frowned back. "Sakura-chan. I've been meaning to ask you... When are you going to run towards what you want faster, hm? I haven't seen you chase after the bastard at all for about... ah, pretty long, actually. You want to make him wait for you as long as you have waited for him?"

With that, Sakura just wanted to turn away from Naruto and run. But she kept standing there, looking at Naruto. "You... You can't be read, but you can't read..." She sadly stated as a fact. "You're so blind..."

Naruto turned confused at that, especially when Sakura's eyes turned watery. "Ah, Sakura-chan?"

"What... what is it that you have with Ino?"

Naruto's confusion dimmed as he made place for a smile. "Well, I think she's become a new dream since last night. A new dream..." He chuckled.

"And I'm an old dream!" She let out quite angry.

"Ah..." Naruto frowned at her, a bit mad. "Hey, why are you so angry, anyway? Did your mission fail or something, Sakura-chan?"

"Why is everyone saying that! As if I fail a lot of missions!" Sakura frustratingly released.

"Well..." Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "You're the best Medic-nin in town, Sakura-chan. You always have to go on missions that have the highest chance of the Shinobis taking the mission to get hurt. As such, quite often, the mission fails because too many people are hurt or severely injured. They don't lose their lives only because you are there!"

She almost blushed at Naruto's compliment, but remembered why she was angry. "You know... The mission was a success, by the way, but... You know... What you said to me, the other day."

"The other day?" Naruto repeated.

"A few weeks ago, Naruto. Just... shut up and listen." Sakura warned with a fist next to her face. "You said to me, that chasing after me was... pointless."

Naruto remembered instantly.

"You... you really hurt my feelings that day." She said as her gaze dropped to the ground. "Even though I've never... I've never given you what you gave me and never showed you what you showed me, I still was hurt so deeply by those words."

"Sakura-chan, I-"

"Let me finish." Sakura said as she gazed at him, with a sad smile. "It's pretty pathetic, isn't it? I realize my feelings for you shortly after you returned to Konoha from when you left for a three-year trip with Jiraiya when Akatsuki was still active."

Naruto was quite speechless, but his eyes were narrowed as well.

"I've never thought about actually confessing it to you." She admitted. "I mean, you fought, every day and moment, for my affection, years ago. And years later, I suddenly feel something for you? I thought it was strange, but I was sure about it, after two full months thinking about it. I... I like you more, in a more mature way, more than I've ever liked Sasuke, Naruto."

It was Naruto's turn to let his drop gaze to the ground.

"I..." She was going to sob, Naruto heard. "I'm sorry!" And she was bowing now...

"Sakura-chan... I... Once you give up on a dream... there's no going back, is there?" Naruto softly asked as he stared at Sakura.

Sakura remained bowing. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

"I didn't believe how gorgeous you had become when I had returned that day with Jiraiya, those years back. You've truly changed into a grown woman, Sakura-chan. Those were my first, honest, thoughts."

Sakura just stayed silent, remaining in a bowing position, tears slowly making their way out of the corners of her eyes. 'He's... I've never really been able to read Naruto...'

"But I also realized, days, weeks, no.. months before that moment, that you would never be mine. I had given up on you during my training. When I had to grow strong to fight against the Akatsuki, I didn't have time for such things. And now, when running after my ultimate dream, of becoming Hokage, I still don't have time for things like this... That's what I thought..."

"Until last night..." Sakura whispered, she undid her bow, but her head was still down.

Naruto nodded sympathetically. "Until last night." He gave the top of Sakura's head a long look. "I... I was never really able to get along with women... Except for Tsunade and Shizune... And well... Hinata, I guess."

"You... you got along with me, right?" Sakura looked him in the eyes.

Naruto smiled at her, but it was truly a sad smile. "No, we didn't, did we? Don't you remember the words you said on the first day we became a team, Sakura-chan?" He whispered. "If there's one thing I really hate about me... It's that I always seem to remember every negative word that's been directed towards me, from the start of my life until now... I think it really is the Fox' fault."

"You said... The thing I hate the most... is Naruto."

Sakura's eyes widened.

Naruto smiled as he turned his face away from Sakura to see a giant snake move up a tree past the Gate entrance into the Forest of Death. "I'll always remember that."

Sakura bowed again, this time grabbing one of Naruto's hands in the process. "I'm sorry, Naruto! I'm so sorry!"

She had known about Naruto's secret, the Kyuubi, on that during the mission to retrieve Gaara. She couldn't imagine the pain Naruto had gone through, being alone all his life, being hated and having no one to support you or fall back onto. Being hurt and insulted, not knowing why and no one around who could explain it to him. He was truly alone.

"Yeah... I can see what you're thinking..." Naruto uttered softly. "You know, I believed that I was destined to be alone. Forever. So it truly did become a dream to find someone to have beside me. I've always wanted it to be you, even though you truly did hate me."

"Suh-Stop!"

Naruto smiled at the tears that were falling. "But now that I've felt something that's alike to what I wanted to feel... That feeling of having someone beside you, a love... Now that I've felt that, I want to fight for it. I..." He gave Sakura another unreadable look. "I feel something for Ino. I..." He sighed sadly. "This sounds harsh, really... coming from me. I've always wanted you, Sakura-chan. But you never wanted me. Always... Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun..."

"A person can't wait forever..." The blonde young man finished.

The wind blew his hair in front of his eyes. Sakura now saw, just what a powerful presence Naruto actually was.

"I want to fight for Ino. She gave me a feeling that seemed to give me some light. And with that, maybe I can finally walk on the road of my life, located in my own dark tunnel." He said.

"Naruto..."

Naruto then gave Sakura a smile, a true smile, which gave her a heavy and light stomach at the same time. And then he turned away.

"Nuh-Naruto!" She yelled, to make him stop walking. "You, you fought for me! I will pay it back to you! I'll fight for you! I'll do all of that and more!"

Naruto turned around, his eyes slightly widened. "Sakura-chan... A beautiful woman like yourself... Fighting for me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto... A Jinchuuriki, the most powerful one at that... The outcast of Konoha, the one everyone hates. I've accepted that and more. Just like how I have already accepted that you don't want me." He let out calmly. "So this... What you're saying. It doesn't make sense at all."

"We... We've all changed so much..." Sakura explained. "You would never say the things you're saying now. You went through hardships and gained wisdom only few have. And you're so unreadable thanks to your cheerful behaviour! I'm not making any sense, but does any person who admits her love to another make sense at such a moment?"

Naruto's eyes widened more. "Love?"

Sakura blushed and turned away. But she definitely nodded, Naruto barely noticed it, though. "Yes..."

And then there was silence.

Naruto's gaze softened as if he just saw an entire field of war turn into a field of beautiful flowers blossoming.

"I... I need time..." Naruto said.

"I'll give you whatever you want..." Sakura said with a hopeful gaze and smile. "Anything. You've fought for me, waited for me... I'll wait just as long, if not longer! For you... Naruto-kun."

He smiled.

"I'll crush the entire dark tunnel, and instead of giving you a light to see... I'll create it all around you."

---

TBC?

I'm too lazy to write out TBC...

Anyway, should I continue this fic? It's rather, jumpy, isn't it? I've intended this one as a oneshot, but if I continue it, I'll make it drama, since I've got a plan. But two or more persons will die, though... And yeah, OOC all around here, but, they're twenty now, so keep that in mind... Not that I really mind.

Pre-read by Tokeh: Which means he didn't give a damn about spelling or grammatical errors, missing letters or punctuation. He cares only about whether something in the story sounds logical or whatever. So in other words, he only read the story and then said: "Sure you can post this..."

Ah, cheers, ey? Kampai, right? Or Kanpai?


End file.
